Stock Traders Purchase Large Volume of Starwood Property Trust Put Options (NYSE:STWD)

Starwood Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:STWD – Get Rating) was the recipient of unusually large options trading activity on Tuesday. Traders bought 8,081 put options on the stock. This is an increase of 78% compared to the typical daily volume of 4,545 put options.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

STWD has been the topic of several analyst reports. StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of Starwood Property Trust in a research report on Thursday, March 16th. They set a “hold” rating on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their target price on shares of Starwood Property Trust from $22.00 to $19.50 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 13th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on shares of Starwood Property Trust from $22.00 to $18.50 in a research report on Monday, April 24th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $22.75.

Starwood Property Trust Trading Down 2.8 %

Shares of NYSE:STWD opened at $16.09 on Wednesday. Starwood Property Trust has a 52-week low of $16.06 and a 52-week high of $24.43. The company has a market cap of $5.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.56 and a beta of 1.57. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $17.28 and its 200-day moving average is $19.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.09, a quick ratio of 2.57 and a current ratio of 2.57.

Starwood Property Trust Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 14th. Investors of record on Friday, March 31st were given a dividend of $0.48 per share. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 11.93%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 30th. Starwood Property Trust’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 102.13%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Starwood Property Trust

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in STWD. BlackRock Inc. lifted its stake in Starwood Property Trust by 54.6% during the first quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 29,655,633 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $524,608,000 after purchasing an additional 10,468,050 shares during the period. State Street Corp raised its stake in shares of Starwood Property Trust by 83.4% in the first quarter. State Street Corp now owns 8,584,507 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $155,952,000 after acquiring an additional 3,902,840 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Starwood Property Trust in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $30,110,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its stake in shares of Starwood Property Trust by 56.6% in the first quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 3,703,445 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $65,514,000 after acquiring an additional 1,338,795 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Starwood Property Trust by 4,300.0% in the first quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,223,458 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $21,643,000 after acquiring an additional 1,195,652 shares during the last quarter. 43.77% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Starwood Property Trust

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Starwood Property Trust, Inc engages in originating, acquiring, financing and managing commercial mortgage loans and other commercial real estate debt and equity investments. It operates through the following segments: Real Estate Commercial and Residential Lending, Infrastructure Lending, Real Estate Property, and Real Estate Investing and Servicing.